Looking for Donkeys
1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. 2 He had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people. 3 The donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, “Now take one of the servants with you, and arise, go look for the donkeys.” 4 He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they weren’t there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn’t find them. 5 When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come! Let’s return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys and be anxious for us.” 6 The servant said to him, “Behold now, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says surely happens. Now let’s go there. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.” 7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what should we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8 The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” 9 (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come! Let’s go to the seer;” for he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer.) 10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said. Come! Let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. 11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12 They answered them and said, “He is. Behold, he is before you. Hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place. 13 As soon as you have come into the city, you will immediately find him before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you will find him.” 14 They went up to the city. As they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them to go up to the high place.
A tall young man, some lost livestock, and a servant with a quarter shekel — providence bringing a king to a prophet by the least dignified road.
He had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.
The introduction is all surface, and deliberately so. Saul is presented exactly as a people who wanted a king like all the nations 1 Samuel 8:20 would have specified him: tall, handsome, from a family of substance. Every word of praise is about how he looks, and the book has already ruled on that criterion in Hannah's song — no man will prevail by strength 1 Samuel 2:9 — and will state it flatly at the next anointing 1 Samuel 16:7.
The donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, “Now take one of the servants with you, and arise, go look for the donkeys.”
The road to the throne opens with strayed livestock. Saul's first appearance in action is a fruitless three-day search through Ephraim, Shalishah, Shaalim, Benjamin — a young man doing an errand badly and ready to quit: Come! Let's return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys and be anxious for us 1 Samuel 9:5. It is a considerate impulse and a small one, and it is the servant, not Saul, who knows there is a man of God nearby and proposes asking him 1 Samuel 9:6. Israel's future king has to be steered toward Israel's prophet by a hired man with a quarter shekel 1 Samuel 9:8.
The narrator's aside — he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer 1 Samuel 9:9 — is a small window on how the book was assembled: written down late enough that the old word needed glossing, and honest enough to gloss it rather than modernize the story.
As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”
The girls' answer runs long and eager, and its detail does the timing: Samuel has come today, the sacrifice is today, hurry and you will catch him 1 Samuel 9:12–13. Then the meeting is staged to the step — as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them 1 Samuel 9:14. Not one link in the chain knows what it is carrying: not the donkeys, not the servant, not the girls at the well, not Saul. Providence in this book rarely announces itself; it looks like errands, and it arrives on time.
settled What this mark means